Thorskald was an archaeologist who, following earlier work by Jastro, explored various sites in Iceland looking for remnants of the lost continent of Atlantis. Near one such site, Indiana Jones and Sophia Hapgood found him frozen to death, clutching an Atlantean horned idol. Jones speculated that Thorskald had climbed down into a underground chamber, gotten soaked by a geyser, then was frozen solid as the temperature dropped. Prior to his death, Thorskald was planning on meeting a fellow Atlantis researcher, Charles Sternhart.